Phoenix Down
by LadyWulf
Summary: [Updated Summary] "Kai?" another voice responds in the darkness. It was Ian's voice alright, and it seemed to be coming from the cell on Kai's left. Moving over Kai started to grab the cage bars looking for the lock but stopped when a louder voice broke the silence. "Don't Hiwatari!" Bryan called from behind him. Kai turned around trying to locate the lilac haired boy.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: Beyblade is a Japanese manga/anime series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. LadyWulf does not own Beyblade, however she does own the OC's within this story. There is no financial gain made from this story, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. ***_

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**Author Note:**

**Hiya everyone, LadyWulf here with my new story Phoenix Down. This is just a prologue of what's to come, but I wanted to see what readers thought of my story before I posted the actual thing. I'm also still in the midst of editing chapters, so once I get those completed I will begin posting the official Phoenix Down chapters.  
**

**I'm pretty nervous about posting this yet really excited at the same time. Please let me know what you guys think about the story and my writing, criticism is welcome, and anything else to help me improve as a writer. Reviews would be greatly appreciated, I really want to know what you guys think. Until the next chapter post, take care and have fun reading guys!**

**Cheers,**

**LadyWulf  
**

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**Phoenix Down**

Prologue  


Looking out the window, thick snow painted the mountain landscape as more of the fluffy, white powder fell from the sky.

Kai Hiwatari continued to stare out the frost covered window, his mind lost in thought. Clutching a blue beyblade in his right hand, the young boy could feel a wave of warm aura wash over him.

It was Dranzer.

Holding the blade up, he stared intently at the bitchip centered in the middle of the beyblade. A slight smile graced his lips; he could feel Dranzers power flow through him, the phoenix was excited, happy to be back with her master.

Thinking back to that day when his bitbeast was taken away, ripped from his very being, Kai shuddered at the thought. The smile quickly faded from his face, replaced once more with the serious, stoic expression he always wore.

Never again would he put Dranzer in such danger. Never again would he be so foolish. He had come so close to losing the phoenix for good and the thought of such a thing ever happening again truly terrified him.

"Never again," Kai spoke aloud, continuing to stare out the window at the frozen wasteland that lay before him.

He had let his guard down. After so many years of shutting the world out, he allowed those steel walls guarding his very soul to lower. For once in a long, long time, he had thought for sure that things would be different, that he had finally found others he could trust.

It was that foolish decision though that almost cost him his life, and that of his bitbeasts.

"I've become weak," he thought looking down at the windowsill.

Suddenly another wave of energy washed over him, but this time it wasn't from Dranzer. Reaching into his pocket, Kai pulled out a black bitchip.

Black Dranzer.

The dark phoenix screeched calling to the young blader, and for a moment Kai smirked looking at the black fire bird. Who would have thought he would end up taming the dark beast, allowing it to become a part of him, just as Dranzer was.

Holding Dranzer in his right hand and Black Dranzer in his left, Kai gave one final look out the cloudy window clutching both objects tightly.

The two phoenixes belonged to him now. They were a part of his soul. His heart was filled with both light and darkness. You couldn't have one without the other, and Kai had finally accepted that fact. Putting both objects back into his pocket, Kai turned to leave the room.

Opening the door, he was greeted by a pleasant aroma. The hallway smelled of roast-beef and baked bread.

For once Kai felt a slight pain in his stomach.

He wasn't a big eater. Years spent at the abbey had left him with a very subtle appetite. Not much food was required to keep his body and mind functioning.

Food was something humans relied on to live, and therefore considered a weakness. Biovolt had taken extreme measures to make sure Kai and the rest of the children at the abbey knew that fact.

Their bodies were trained to function off the very minimum required to live, while still being able to perform in peak condition.

A shudder ran up Kai's spine as he thought back to the methods Biovolt favored when it came to conditioning its students to learn such self-control over their own bodies wants.

This was the reason for his meager appetite.

For a moment Kai wondered if his disdain for regular meals would always be like that. His thoughts were interrupted however by yet another small pain emitting from his stomach and the thick aroma of home-made food tickled his senses once more.

Spencer's cooking was beginning to spoil him. In fact, it was spoiling the whole lot of them.

Over the past couple months it seemed like they had all stumbled upon a new-found hobby.

Back during their years at the abbey, Callie loved to write. Now that she actually had the opportunity to do so, you could always find her lounging about somewhere scribbling away.

Kai couldn't help but smirk at the thought, he was almost positive the bouncy, pink haired girl had gone through at least three notebooks, and that was just in the past month.

It was like that with all of them though.

Ian was constantly down in the basement tinkering away on some new contraption, whereas Bryan had taken to collecting antique knives.

Kai himself had always enjoyed reading. Now that he had time to lay back, relax, and immerse himself in a good book, he found that he was always running out of books, thus having to make constant trips to town to pick up something new to read.

As for Spencer, he seemed to be naturally talented when it came to the culinary arts. You could always find the Russian working away in the kitchen.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner; three concepts that the group of teenagers had never been accustomed to was now a routine part of their day, with all of them sitting down together for each meal.

Back during their time at the abbey, the group had never received regular meals. Sometimes they would go days without a single crumb of food or even a drop of water. Other times they would be tested and given poisoned food.

Boris took great joy out of teasing the starved teenagers. Giving them hot, delicious looking meals, the twisted man would watch, patiently hoping his prisoners would gorge themselves on the food so later he could watch them suffer.

Knowing full well what would happen if they gave into their cravings and took so much as a bite of the food, the group forced themselves to resist such tempting offers. Over time they all became well equipped at recognizing whether food was poisoned or safe to eat.

Now however, food was no longer an issue, and Spencer was always experimenting with new recipes.

Walking out of his room, Kai made a mental note to speak with the blonde headed Russian about the matter of his cooking. They may have finally been free from the abbey but Kai would be damned if he allowed Spencer's cooking to make them all fat!

Making his way to the room at the very end of the hallway, Kai stopped and paused in front of the door listening for any sounds coming from the other side.

After hearing nothing but silence, Kai placed his hand upon the door knob and stepped into the room. Moving to shut the door behind him, he was careful not to make even the slightest noise.

The inside of the room was very dim, with its only light source coming from the window positioned across the room, directly in front of the doorway.

The blinds to the window were closed shut and the curtains had been pulled so that the cloth covered most of the window, leaving only a small crack, which gave the room a faint light.

The room itself, though dimly lit, appeared seemingly spotless. The desk sitting in the far right corner was free of clutter with an opened lab top resting atop it. Besides the lab top lay a worn notebook, and in front of it a cup filled with pens and pencils. Kai noticed the waste-basket sitting beside the desk was completely full of crumbled papers.

Turning his gaze to the other side of the room, the young Phoenix continued his survey. Not much else furnished the room aside from a small dresser and bookshelf. There were two other doors in the room that lay opposite of one another. One sat half-opened beside the desk, it was a closet, and a very organized one at that. The other door sitting next to the bookshelf on the left side of the room stood ajar revealing a washroom. In the far left corner sat a medium sized bed with a nightstand beside it.

The layout and furnishings of the room were very simple and Kai assumed that the other five bedrooms in the house looked very similar, his own included.

Noticing again how clean and organized the room was, he couldn't help but smirk. The room's appearance was a perfect mirror to his friend.

Still standing in front of the doorway, Kai quietly walked over to the desk and knelt down to further inspect the waste basket. Reaching for one of the crumbled balls of paper at the very top of the pile he froze upon hearing a quiet voice.

"You know, it's pretty rude to snoop through other peoples stuff."

Kai turned to face the direction of the voice and his eyes met icy blue ones.

Laying half propped up on the bed was the captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys.

"You should be asleep Tala." Kai spoke, looking his friend straight in the eye.

"And you should learn to knock." the red head sighed.

Rolling his eyes, Kai decided to forget about all the crumbled papers for the time being. Standing, he moved to take a seat in the desk chair and turned his attention back to the occupant of the bed.

Taking in the appearance of his friend, Kai couldn't help but wince. Tala's skin was much paler than normal and he looked far too thin, fragile almost. His left eye was patched over with white gauze and medical tape, but the right one was bloodshot with dark rings hanging underneath his eyelid. Kai could tell his friend had not been sleeping well.

Thick layers of bandages wrapped around the red heads chest, his arms and legs were covered in the white dressing as well. Kai noticed some areas of the bandages were stained with rust colored spots.

"He's still bleeding," the phoenix blader thought to himself, his teeth clenching in anger. Callie would most likely be up soon to change the bandages again.

Kai watched closely as the red head attempted to sit up in the bed. Flinching at the protest of his injuries, Kai could tell Tala was trying his best to conceal the discomfort. He could see right through his friend's facade however and knew the red-head had to be in a great deal of pain.

Standing up, Kai made his way over to the bed, leaning down he wrapped one arm around his friends back and hooked his other arm around his waist. Slowly, he pulled Tala up into a sitting position, ignoring the other boys protest.

"Kai don't even think about it," Tala gritted out as he attempted to push the other boy's arms away.

"Kai you jerk I don't need your help." Struggling for a few moments, Tala tried in vain to fight back against his friend, but after a moment he felt winded and decided to give up, his body far too fatigued to continue.

"Don't over-do it Tala, you heard what Callie said, you need to rest."

Seeing that Tala had finally stopped struggling, Kai pulled one of the thick blankets up around his friend's chest and then looked the red-head over making sure he was comfortable.

Tala's head was turned away however, his eyes staring intently at the crumbled bed sheets that lay around him. Kai noticed a light flush spread across Tala's face. Pausing for a moment, he wondered if his friends fever was acting up again, or if he was just blushing out of embarrassment. He hoped it was the latter.

Satisfied with himself, Kai moved back to sit down in the desk chair. He heard the red-head mumble a faint "thank you," and Kai gave a curt nod in response.

Kai knew Tala hated being so helpless and that the red –head was beyond frustrated with how debilitating his injuries were.

He wanted to say something reassuring to his friend, to tell Tala to just relax and let them take care of him. He knew his words would fall on deaf ears, Tala was far too stubborn.

They were all like that though, refusing to show any sort of weakness, keeping their emotions locked away, and always wearing that steely facade.

Emotions were for the weak, nothing more than a crutch for man-kind. Yet another lesson Biovolt had drilled into their minds.

Callie was probably the only exception out of the six of them.

Kai never understood why, but somehow the pink haired girl managed to hold onto some of her inner self, even after all those years at the abbey. He knew that it was mainly due to the young girl's personality but still, there was always that small spark that lay aflame inside the Russian girl, refusing to be snuffed out by Boris and his tortuous ways.

In a way Callie was a light to all of them. The darkness may have consumed their lives, but as long as she was there, a dim light would still remain.

Kai knew that Callie cared dearly for all of them, especially Tala.

The two siblings had a strong bond, one that was forged from years of abuse and suffering. When it all came down to it, Callie could always break through those icy barriers, the ones that steeled themselves around her brothers very soul.

A faint knock on the door brought Kai out of his thoughts. A second later the door opened to reveal a very concerned looking Callie.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, her quiet voice breaking through the silence.

Kai looked over to Tala who only looked up at his sister and nodded.

"Everything's fine Cal, Kai was just keeping me company."

The pink haired girl frowned, "You haven't been able to sleep at all have you?"

"I slept for a little while," Tala lied.

He didn't want to upset his sister, or make her any more worried than she already was.

Kai snorted and rolled his eyes at Tala's obvious fib.

Callie let out a small sigh, and then disappeared into the washroom. A moment later she returned with a medical kit in hand. Laying the box at the end of the bed, Callie looked up at her brother smiling softly, "You know the drill big brother. I need to change the bandages so nothing gets infected."

Tala mumbled grumpily and once again attempted to sit up in the bed. Struggling just as he had before, Callie leaned across the bed to help support her brother.

Kai started to get up from the chair to help but Tala gave him an icy glare.

"Stay your ass in the chair Hiwatari!" Tala continued to stare down the phoenix blader.

Deciding to leave things up to Callie, Kai sat back down, shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "Whatever you say captain."

"Don't think you're off the hook Kai, I want to look at your injuries after I'm done with Tala."

Kai sighed loudly, the smirk leaving his face.

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**Reviews are greatly appreciated, please let me know what you guys think!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Victory

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Beyblade is a Japanese manga/anime series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. LadyWulf does not own Beyblade, however she does own the OC's within this story. There is no financial gain made from this story, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. ***_

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**Phoenix Down**

Chapter 1 - Victory

"We won, we won, and now were the world champions!" a very excited Tyson Granger cheered as he pumped his fist into the air.

He, along with the rest of the Bladebreakers all gathered around a table in their locker room, munching on cake, and celebrating their latest victory. They were joined by three other teams, the All-Starz, White Tigers, and the Majestics.

Though the locker room was quite crowed with all the teenagers jumping around celebrating, everyone seemed to be in high spirits.

"A toast to the Bladebreakers and their new title as World Champions," Robert exclaimed as he lifted his drink up into the air. The rest of the teams joined in and glasses of soda were clinked together simultaneously.

Sitting off to the side on one of the benches, an injured Ray smiled at the sight of all the teams celebrating together. Feeling something tug on his arm, the Chinese blader looked down to find a pink haired girl grinning up at him.

"You did really great out there Ray, I'm so proud of you," Mariah said as she gently squeezed Ray's arm.

"Thanks Mariah," Ray smiled down at the girl and pulled her closer.

He was so happy to have the young Chinese girl back in his life. He had truly missed her as well as the rest of the White Tigers. Seeing them all here together now, celebrating and having fun, it was a wonderful sight to behold.

Letting his eyes roam around the room, Ray had a sudden feeling that something was missing from the jovial group of teenagers. It wasn't until he looked to the far corner of the room that he finally found his target. A navy haired boy stood eyes closed, leaning with his back against a wall, and far off from the rest of the group.

Ray couldn't help but frown at the sight of his team mate standing off to the side all alone. Even now after everything they'd been through, their test of friendship out on Lake Baikal, finally winning the world championship, and practically saving the world, Kai was still as distant as ever.

"Ray is something wrong?" Mariah shook his shoulder lightly, staring up at him with concerned eyes. Not wanting to worry the pink haired girl, he shook his head and gave her his best and brightest smile.

"Ah my bad Mariah, I zoned out there for a minute, just a little tired I guess, nothing to worry about!" the Chinese blader said, distracting the girl once more.

Unbeknownst to Ray, as soon as his gaze returned to Mariah his previous target quietly slipped out of the room, the boys departure going unnoticed by all the other excited teenagers.

Kai walked quietly down the dark corridors, sounds of the cheering teenagers fading behind him. He had one destination in mind, and that was the opposing team's locker room. He could only begin to imagine the sight that would greet him once there, but he silently hoped he wasn't too late.

Making his way to the opposite side of the stadium, Kai walked quietly down the hallway stopping every so often to listen for any unusual sounds. Greeted by nothing but eerie silence, he continued onward.

"Something just feels off," he thought as he stood outside the opposing team's locker room door.

The fact that there wasn't a single sound coming from the other side of the door worried the navy haired blader. He hesitated, taking a moment to mentally prepare himself before turning the door knob.

Slowly opening the door Kai's eyes widened in shock as he took in the scene before him.

Although the room was vacant of any people, the place had been completely trashed. Benches lay turned over on their sides, some looking as if they'd been thrown clear across the room. Shredded posters were torn from the walls, and a number of broken water bottles lay shattered in pieces, scattered all over the floor.

What caught Kai's attention the most though were the dark, rust colored stains splattered randomly across the locker room floor.

Balling his fists up and clenching his teeth in anger, Kai turned and threw a heavy punch at the nearest wall.

He was too late.

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**Chapter 2 and 3 will be up shortly! Please Read and Review!**

**LadyWulf**


	3. Chapter 2 - Return to the Past

_**Disclaimer:**__ Beyblade is a Japanese manga/anime series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. LadyWulf does not own Beyblade, however she does own the OC's within this story. There is no financial gain made from this story, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. ***_

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******Finally! I'm not sure why but I had the most trouble with this chapter. I'm not sure if it was the dialogue that tripped me up, or explaining the general plotline, but I spent far too much time on this chapter, that's for sure. Hopefully it's not a complete disaster.**

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**Phoenix Down**

Chapter 2 - Return to the Past

Stepping off the elevator onto the 17th floor, the Bladebreakers headed to their hotel suite. They were accompanied by four adults who trailed behind them.

Mr. Dickenson, Grandpa Granger, Mr. Granger, and Judy Tate could only smile at the group of teens before them.

"The little dudes deserve a good rest after all that spinning," Grandpa Granger spoke up, and the other adults laughed at the man's choice of words.

"They definitely do," Mr. Dickenson chuckled and nodded at the older man.

"Just wait until they see the welcome home party we have planned for them," Mrs. Tate whispered to the others, "I can't wait to surprise them when we get back!"

The other adults began to whisper quietly amongst themselves about the party they arranged to surprise the group of bladers once they returned to Japan.

Unbeknownst to the four adults, a certain blader was listening in on their conversation.

Because of his nekojin heritage, even though Ray was a good couple feet in front of the adults, he could still make out bits and pieces of their conversation. He couldn't wait for the party. He knew the adults had invited all the teams from the world championship, which meant he would get to see Mariah again very soon!

Deciding he would keep his knowledge of the party to himself, Ray really didn't want to spoil the surprise for the rest of his team.

He knew the group of adults were very proud of them; they had practically saved the world after all. With everything that had occurred over the past couple months, Ray knew that relaxing and enjoying a fun party with all their friends would do he and the other Bladebreakers some good.

Ray decided to give the adults some privacy and brought his attention back to his team mates.

"Man I'm so tired, I can't wait to get some sleep." Kenny whined as the group of bladers walked down the long hallway.

"Yeah I know what you mean Chief, I'm pretty exhausted too," Ray spoke while trying to stifle back a yawn.

"After your battle Ray, I can only imagine how tired you are." The boy looked over at his raven haired friend, concern evident on his face.

"Are you hurting anywhere Ray?"

Ray only nodded at the smaller boy and shook his head.

"Nah I'm fine now Kenny, a little sore, but nothing a good night's rest can't fix!"

The boy with glasses smiled and nodded at his friend.

Ray was glad he had not been seriously injured during his battle with Bryan.

If it wasn't for Driger, I could have really gotten hurt; he thought a swell of pride filling him. He was blessed to have befriended the white tiger.

Looking behind, Ray noticed that Kai was once again distancing himself from the team.

As usual, the Bladebreaker's captain walked quietly behind the group, his white scarf trailing behind him.

Sighing Ray wondered to himself if the phoenix blader would ever truly trust them.

Realizing the group had reached their hotel suite Max interrupted Ray's thoughts, and jumped around excitedly.

"Yay home sweet home!" the boy cheered and then halted his bouncing movements to think for a moment.

"Well sort of like home," the blonde laughed.

As the group of adults caught up with the bladers, they watched as the group piled into the room.

"If you guys need us, were right across the hallway," Mr. Granger spoke. "We'll see you guys in the morning, good night!" the man finished as he waved to his son.

"Good night Maxie, I love you!" Mrs. Tate smiled as her own son ran back to the doorway to hug her.

"Goodnight Mom, love you too!" the blonde responded cheerfully, giving his mother another hug before running back into the room.

Walking across the hallway, the adults made their way to their own rooms.

"Now Dad, you better not keep me up all night with your snoring," Mr. Granger snickered at his father as the two walked into their hotel suite.

"Whoa dude, you got the wrong guy, I've never snored a day in my life!" the elder granger replied.

"Well Tyson certainly didn't get it from me," Mr. Granger joked once more.

Before he could get another word out though, a pillow smacked into his face.

"That's what ya get homie for cracking on me!" the elder Granger laughed grinning triumphantly.

Back in the Bladebreakers room, the group of teens, minus their captain had all piled down in the room Tyson, Max and Kenny shared. Lounging on the middle bed, the teens chatted about the day's events

Their conversation was interrupted however as Tyson jumped from the bed and bounced across the room. The navy haired boy made his way first to the bathroom, and then back over to his own duffel bag.

"Uhh Tyson what exactly are you doing?" Ray asked, giving his friend a confused look.

Tyson only responded by flashing a huge grin in the other boys direction.

Clearing his throat the dragon blader put on what appeared to be a pair of sunglasses.

"Uhh Tyson where did those come from" – before he could finish his question Max was interrupted as Tyson leapt onto one of the hotel beds and let out an evil laugh.

"I am Boris and I am going to take over the world MWUHAHAHAH!"

The other teens stared at the boy slightly confused.

Tyson sighed and pointed to his sun glasses, and then let out another evil laugh.

"Oh wait, now I get it," Max giggled realizing what his friend was doing.

"Sorry Tyson but I don't think you look anything like Boris," Ray laughed.

Taking off the glasses Tyson threw them to the side and leaned down to pick up two plastic cups he had retrieved from the bathroom.

"I am Tala and I am a robot! I am the perfect soldier feared by all, beep boop beep boop!" Tyson held one of the cups up to each side of his head imitating the Russian blader's hair style. Jumping down from the bed, the boy began to walk in a robotic fashion across the room.

The other teens couldn't help but laugh at their friends terrible imitations.

Back in the living room, Kai Hiwatari sat on a plush couch, his mind in deep thought. Ever since seeing the inside of the Blitzkrieg Boy's locker room, Kai couldn't stop thinking about the Russian bladers.

He scowled to himself when he heard his team mates laughing far too loudly in the other room.

"Can't they ever just sit quietly and talk," he thought.

Although Kai still kept up his icy façade towards the other four teens, he was still very proud of them. They had won the world championship.

Even after he betrayed them for Black Dranzer, they still accepted him back into the group. They called him their friend, and Kai was starting to get use to the idea of actually having a group of friends again.

It had been a long time since he had anyone to confide in, to trust, or hold dear to his heart. He could vaguely remember having such a friendship with the Blitzkrieg Boys while growing up in the abbey, but what little memories he did have of those days were clouded and far too vague to understand. Every time he tried to make out the foggy memories that sat in the back of his mind and haunted him in his sleep, he would only end up making himself even more frustrated.

Lost in thought, Kai was surprised when he felt a small wave of energy hit him. Looking down at his pants, the phoenix blader reached into his pocket and pulled out a black bitchip.

Black Dranzer.

The dark bitbeast was calling to him. He knew what the black phoenix wanted though. It wanted to take control of him again. The bitbeast wanted Kai to wield her once more. Clenching his teeth together Kai turned his head away from the dark bird and slipped the bitchip back into his pocket. Reaching over to his other pocket he quickly pulled out Dranzer. Feeling the Phoenix pulse in his hand, the boy smiled.

"Thank you Dranzer, I don't know what I would do without you," Kai spoke quietly to himself, gazing down at the magnificent bird. Dranzer only replied by giving off yet another warm pulse, and Kai sighed slipping the blade back into his pocket.

He had really let Dranzer down.

Throwing her to the side so he could wield the dark phoenix, he had been so foolish! He let his own thirst for power take control of him, and he had made one of the most stupid mistakes in his life. He wasn't sure why Dranzer had taken him back. He had expected the phoenix to disown him, just as he had disowned her, but she didn't. No instead, the phoenix had welcomed him back with open wings, surrounding him in her warm aura, happy to have the boy back at her side.

Kai couldn't help but smile thinking back to how wonderful it felt when he was reunited with his bitbeast. Never again would he take advantage of the mighty fire bird, never again would he allow their connection to be broken.

Thinking back to the black bitchip that sat in his other pocket though, Kai's smiled faded.

His grandfather had so foolishly given him back Black Dranzer, honestly believing he would use the dark phoenix again. The old man had greatly underestimated his grandson and now Kai had the dark bitbeast in his possession. This way Biovolt would never be able to use the bird's dark power for their own agenda.

Still though, Kai knew he couldn't just ignore the dark phoenix. He had sought out Dranzer's advice on the matter after they had been reunited, and the two had come to the same conclusion.

Kai would have to learn to wield Black Dranzer, and suppress the dark power that threatened to eat him alive. He would have to tame the black bird.

Dranzer had reached out to Kai, explaining to him that although Black Dranzer was born of darkness, it didn't mean the bird was completely evil. If Kai could learn to master the bitbeast, he would be able to bring out the phoenix's full potential, and purge it of all the hateful spite that Biovolt had forced into it.

Kai sighed; he knew what he had to do. First he was going to free the Blitzkrieg Boys and then he was going to master Black Dranzer, so that the black phoenix could never harm anyone again. Dranzer pulsed at the boys' side once more. Even though the tasks before him would be difficult, Kai knew Dranzer would be beside him every step of the way.

Back in the room the other four teens were occupying, Tyson continued his terrible imitations. Ray, Max, and Kenny couldn't stop laughing at their friend.

As great of a blader Tyson was, he could be such a clown sometimes, Ray thought, as he held his sides from laughing so hard.

Noticing that Kai wasn't present in the bedroom, Tyson paused for a moment and then ran out into the living room in search of the phoenix blader. Finding the other boy sitting on the couch, Tyson bolted across the room to stand in front of him.

"Hey Kai check it out, I look just like Tala!" the dragon blader practically yelled while continuing his robot imitation.

The room soon filled with laughter as the other three teens joined them.

Kai kept silent as he watched his teammate prance around the room in an idiotic fashion. Honestly, he didn't find anything funny about the other boy's behavior.

Finding himself out of breathe the dragon blader dropped the acting and plopped down onto one of the soft chairs.

"Man did you guys see the look on Boris's face when they announced us as the winners?" Kenny began "I mean talk about being angry," he finished letting out another small laugh.

"I bet Tala and the others are going to be in so much trouble!" Tyson added as a triumphant grin spread across his face.

"He did look really angry guys, I hope they won't get in too much trouble," Max added thoughtfully.

Kai stiffened at his teammates comments. Memories of his own days spent in the abbey flooded his mind, some he recognized, but most of them he couldn't remember at all. It was as if his childhood flashed before him in one giant blur, and he couldn't make heads or tails of anything.

Gritting his teeth, Kai thought back to how trashed the Blitzkrieg Boy's locker room was, and all the blood stains splattered across the floor.

The phoenix blader gritted his teeth as a wave of anger flared inside of him. He almost wanted to punch the dragon blader for his ignorant words. His team was naive, they didn't know just how severe the consequences were for the Russian Team; they seriously had no idea what kind of pain and abuse the Blitzkrieg Boys were in for. They didn't have a fucking clue, and the more Kai thought about Tyson's stupid imitations, the angrier he grew.

He wasn't going to lose control in front of all of them though, god forbid if he actually lost his cool because of their stupid antics.

Thinking back to the Russian bladers, Kai knew what he had to do, and he certainly wasn't going to sit around and listen to his team mates mock his childhood friends.

He had to save them, before it was too late.

Standing up, Kai silently headed towards the room he shared with Ray, not even bothering to look up at the other teens sitting around him.

Ray noticed a sudden change in Kai's mood. He couldn't make it out, but something had upset Kai. Had Tyson's jokes pissed their captain off?

Lost in thought Ray jumped when he heard Tyson yell after their team captain, "Hey Kai are you heading to bed already dude, don't you want to hang out with us for a bit longer?"

Ray chuckled softly at his friends antics. Ever since the incident at Lake Baikal, Tyson had been trying even harder to get their steely captain to open up to them. Knowing that Kai's lack of response would most likely cause the dragon blader to go running after him, Ray decided to intervene.

"Tyson I'm sure Kai's just tired." The Chinese blader gave his friend a cat-like grin.

"Meh if you say so Ray!"

Tyson just laughed at the other and decided he wouldn't pester their team captain anymore, well at least not until tomorrow morning anyways.

An awkward silence seemed to fill the room. Thinking back to the conversation they were having before Kai had left, Ray suddenly remembered the day the group had visited the abbey.

"That abbey place was pretty strict," Ray spoke, breaking the silence. Noticing that the other boys in the room seemed to be looking away from one another, the Chinese blader continued, "Remember how that boy got taken away by the guards for losing to you Tyson."

The dragon blader looked up and nodded his head in understanding, letting his friend know he remembered.

"How could I possibly forget Ray?" As he spoke Tyson cast his gaze to the floor, thinking back to their first day in Russia.

"I'm sure they'll be alright guys, I mean they are Boris's best bladers you know." Kenny piped up, trying to dissuade the gloomy feeling that washed over the four teens.

Looking over at his friend Tyson smiled once more, "Yeah you're probably right Kenny, I mean they were the best bladers at the abbey, Boris wouldn't do anything to them! He needs them right?"

Yawning Ray looked at the others and nodded his head. "They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. Anyways, I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted, I'm going to head to bed." The Chinese blader stood up, wishing the others a good night.

"Night Ray, see you in the morning!" Max practically yelled as Ray walked across the living room to the bedroom he shared with Kai.

Looking back he watched as the other three teens headed to their own room as well. Smiling to himself Ray chuckled softly. He really was fond of his team mates, they were quite the bunch.

Ray walked into the bedroom half expecting to find his quiet captain already in bed asleep. He didn't however; in fact he didn't even see Kai in the room. Heading towards the bathroom Ray poked his head through the doorway but was met with yet another empty space.

A sudden chill ran up his back as he pondered over where his captain could be, and that was when he noticed the cool breeze drifting into the room. The curtains that hung over the balcony doorway blew in the gentle wind, and danced back and forth away from the glass door.

Of course the balcony, the raven haired boy thought, he should have known Kai would be out on the balcony.

Walking over to the balcony doors, Ray pushed aside the curtains and stepped out into the freezing night air.

"Hey Kai maybe you should come back in, you'll catch a cold out here –"

Ray stopped midsentence as he walked out onto the balcony, to his surprise, no one was there.

Okay now Ray was just confused. He saw Kai walk into their room only minutes ago. If he wasn't on the balcony, then where was he?

The balcony door had been closed when the group got back to their hotel room, so after walking into their room, Kai had to have been the one to open it.

Then it hit him, and Ray felt his stomach lurch.

"Oh my god, what if he fell off?" The Chinese blader panicked and ran over to the balcony railings, jerking his head downwards, looking for any sign of his friend. There were bushes and a couple trees below them that grew against the wall of the hotel, but no sign of Kai.

"Wait were on the 17th floor," the boy thought aloud, "If Kai fell, there's no way he could have survived that!"

Trying to calm himself down and clear his head so that he could think more rationally, Ray froze when he caught sight of movement below him. Straining his cat-like eyes, the nekojin gasped when he realized the movement was actually a person walking away from the hotel. A long scarf trailed behind the figure.

Letting out a loud sigh Ray relaxed.

Jeez Kai, you could have at least told us you were going out, that scared the life out of me, Ray thought as his eye's followed the boy's movements.

Seeing his friend at ground level, while he stood up high on the balcony, Ray knew he should probably have been freaking out over how Kai had actually gotten to the bottom level of the hotel.

I'm not even going to try and figure out how he climbed down seventeen stories without falling to his death, the raven haired boy shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Sighing once more Ray was about to turn and walk into the room but he was struck with another thought.

Mr. Dickenson had specifically told them all not to go out past dark. It had been one of the rules since they first started traveling for the world tournament.

He knew this wasn't anything new for Kai though. Throughout their travels, Ray had always shared a room with Kai. He mostly figured it was because he was quiet, and didn't annoy the life out of the phoenix blader; unlike a certain other navy haired boy.

Ray smiled thinking back to all the times Tyson had purposely attempted to irritate Kai. Realizing his thoughts were drifting off, Ray looked back across the hotel lot once more, but he could no longer see his friend.

Worry began to nip at the edge of his mind, and Ray bit his lower lip, thinking about what he should do.

Quite a many nights he had woken to find his team captain gone. He knew Kai liked to be alone, and the boy seemed to be able to take care of himself well enough.

Because of that Ray had always shrugged it off and ended up deciding not to inform Mr. Dickenson or the rest of his team mates about their captain's knack for disappearing in the middle of the night.

For the first time though, he contemplated telling the others. After everything that had happened to the Bladebreakers in Russia; being attacked by the Blitzkrieg Boys, their bus breaking down in the snowy wastelands, and that creepy abbey located on the other side of the city, Ray wondered if he should go tell the others this time.

Then again he thought back to all the times before when he'd found Kai had disappeared. It definitely wasn't unusual behavior for the phoenix blader.

Pulling out his Beyblade, Ray looked down at his bitbeast.

Talking quietly to the bitbeast the boy whispered, "What do you think I should do Driger? Do you think Kai will be okay by himself?"

Ray could feel the white tiger's presence within himself, and he closed his eyes to focus on what the tiger was trying to tell him. Smiling to himself, Ray thanked his bitbeast.

"You're right Driger; Kai has always come back before. Plus he knows how to read and speak Russian, so it's not like I have to worry about him getting lost. He has Dranzer with him too. I'm sure he'll be back first thing in the morning, just like always."

Feeling better about his decision, Ray looked out across the balcony once more.

As he gazed out across the snowy landscape another chill ran up the boy's spine and he decided it was time to finally get out of the cold and get some rest. Walking back into the room he closed the balcony doors and made his way over to his own bed.

He was so tired he didn't even care enough to change out of his clothes; instead he kicked off his shoes and jumped under the warm covers. Letting out a sleepy sigh, the Chinese blader felt his eyes droop, and before he could blink away the fatigue, he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

A lone figure walked across the snow covered streets of Russia. It was late and not a soul was out on the streets, except for the boy. The moon hung high in the sky, lighting his path as he made his way towards the Balkov Abbey.

Just like before when he had snuck into the abbey, Kai felt anxious. It was very unusual for him to feel this nervous about something, and the fact that the abbey was making him jittery only worsened his mood.

He thought back to the pathways he had taken the first time he was there. He knew where the blind spots for most of the hallway cameras were, so those wouldn't be a problem.

Knowing Boris, the Blitzkrieg Boys were most likely being held in the underground level of the building.

Trying to remember anything useful about his own days spent at the abbey, Kai focused his mind and concentrated on remembering anything useful that would help him.

Walking down an alleyway, Kai began to walk on the back streets of the city, not wanting to be seen by anyone. As he walked a memory he recognized flashed in his mind. The keys to the cells in the basement level, Boris had the master key to everything!

The memory felt so fresh in his mind, it was as though Kai could see it playing out before him.

A four year old Kai stood with his grandfather in Boris Balkov's personal office, listening to the two men converse back and forth. Feeling somewhat bored listening to the adult's conversation, Kai glanced around the large office, curiosity getting the better of him. In the very middle of the room sat a large mahogany desk. Behind it sat Boris Balkov. Papers and other files were strewn across the tabletop; Kai winced at the messy sight of the desk.

Apparently Boris wasn't a very neat person.

Before he could check out the rest of the room something gleamed in the light catching the young boy's eyes. Looking behind the purple haired man, Kai noticed a key hanging on the wall. The florescent lighting of the room bounced off the key's metallic sheen, giving the item a slight shine. Kai remembered he had been so distracted by the key that he hadn't heard his grandfather address him. That had earned him a slap on the back of the head. God he really hated that old man!

From that day forward, Kai had witnessed several occasions where Boris used the key on many a different locks.

After a while he deduced it had to be a master key. Although the abbey guards had keys to certain floors and rooms in the abbey, Boris's key could open any and every lock in the entire building.

If he was going to free the Blitzkrieg Boys, he was going to need that key.

Shaking some of the snow out of his hair, Kai noticed he was getting close to the wooded area that surrounded the abbey.

He couldn't chance using any of the keys from the guards. If he ended up with the wrong one, he'd be trapped in the bottom level of the building, and would most likely get caught.

He would have to sneak into Boris's office and retrieve the master key. That was his only way to ensure he could unlock any door's blocking his way down to the basement, unlock the cells where the Blitzkrieg Boys were being kept, and then being able to unlock any other doors that blocked their way back to the first floor of the abbey.

Once he and the others reached the first floor there wouldn't be any other obstacles blocking their path, aside from the abbey guards. Kai wasn't worried about them however; he knew he could dispatch of those fools quite easily.

Looking up Kai realized he had reached the edge of the woods. Quietly he made his way into the thick brush. The abbey was about a 20 minute walk if one started at the beginning of the woods, so Kai had a bit more time to review his plan.

He would have to be stealthy. Knowing all the blind spots of the cameras was definitely going to come in handy, but he would have to make sure he wasn't spotted by any patrolling guards either.

He would also have to make sure Boris was not in his office when he entered. That part would be tricky, but Kai figured he'd improvise. There was no way he could really make a set plan for knowing the purple haired mans' location once in the abbey, so he would just wing it and hope the man wasn't sulking in his office.

Snow continued to fall from the sky as Kai made his way through the trees and brush. The forest was very thick, so there wasn't very much light for him to go by. Not even the bright rays of the moon could pierce through the thick forest.

As Kai continued forward he paused for a moment upon seeing a dim light ahead of him. He was close now.

Making sure to keep as silent as possible the phoenix blader finally reached the end of the forest. The abbey had a large cement wall encircling it; however Kai knew the perfect spot where he could climb over without being spotted. After all these years' Boris still had not removed the large tree that grew on the north side of the abbey wall, at the far corner of the building. Once Kai climbed up the wall, he could easily hide in the tree's branches and foliage as he made his way down. This would ensure he wouldn't be detected by any patrols.

Making his way toward the north side of the wall, Kai reached the spot he had used so many times before to sneak in and out of the abbey when he was younger. Getting a foothold, he quickly made his way up the wall, as he stepped onto the flat top of the structure. Making sure he was hidden behind the large tree before climbing down the other side of the wall, Kai quickly reached the bottom and landed gracefully.

The task had been quite easy. To Kai it almost felt like riding a bike, it was something he would never forget, even if he still had issues remembering majority of his time at the abbey.

As frustrated as he was with himself, Kai was thankful that at least he did remember the wall's weak spot.

Kai waited, hiding in the thick brush around the tree looking for any sign of movement. The last time he snuck in, guards had been patrolling the outside of the abbey making routine circles around the building. This time however Kai did not see a single guard, nor did he see any recent foot prints in the snow that would indicate others had been there.

After waiting another two minutes, Kai stepped out from behind the tree and made his way across the abbey grounds. Walking through the courtyard he made his way up the main staircase that led into the room that he and the Bladebreakers has seen initially on their first visit to the abbey.

Trying to stay in the shadows as much as possible, Kai pulled the heavy metal door open just enough to squeeze through and then pulled the door shut behind him as quietly as possible.

Surprised not to find even a single guard stationed in the large room, Kai turned to his right and quickly made his way through yet another heavy door before reaching the hallway where all the supposed classrooms were located.

Kai thanked whatever gods were out there that he remembered the layout of the abbey so well, at least the first floor anyways. Making his way down the long hallway with classrooms on each side, Kai froze when he heard footsteps echoing from another adjoining hallway. It was when he heard approaching voices that he made a dash for one of the classroom doors. Judging by the current time, Kai could only assume the voices belonged to abbey guards. He couldn't think of a decent reason as to why anyone else would be visiting this part of the abbey so late at night. Slinking into the empty room, Kai mentally kicked himself as the door shut behind him with a loud click.

He wasn't sure if the door shutting had given him away, but could only hope no one had heard the noise. The two approaching voices became louder, and Kai tensed, drawing in a deep breath as shadows passed underneath the crack of the doorway.

"So yeah Mr. Balkov seems to be pretty stressed out huh?" One of the apparent guards spoke.

"Yeah, he was pretty mad earlier. I mean did you see what he did to the red head?" Another voice replied.

"Oh yeah man, I was right there watching the whole thing. That kid definitely won't be walking anytime soon am I right?" The first voice spoke again chuckling as if he had somehow made a funny joke.

Kai remained frozen in his spot as the voices drifted down the hallway. It wasn't until he could no longer hear the two men or their footsteps before he finally allowed himself to breathe easy.

Thinking back to what the two guards were discussing, Kai knew the red head that both men spoke of had to be Tala. Cursing Boris, Kai prayed for his friend to hang on just a bit longer.

Exiting the classroom, Kai once again made his way down the hallway until he reached the very end. To his left was another hallway that led to the main cafeteria where food was supposedly served to children in the abbey. Kai himself had never actually eaten there, so he honestly couldn't say whether the place actually served food or not. To his right was an elevator that was supposed to lead down to the basement floor, as well as up to the second floor. The only problem was you had to have a key in order to activate the elevator.

Thankfully there was one more alternate route up to the second floor. Sitting directly in front of the phoenix blader was a large stairwell which led up to the second floor. The only ones whoever used the stairs were either guards or kids in the abbey. For the most part, no one was aloud on the second floor aside from guards; unless you were that unlucky kid who was called to Boris's office.

Kai shuddered at the thought.

Looking around, the phoenix blader made sure there were no other guards coming his way before climbing the stairs. Thankfully there were no security cameras in the stairwell. He was almost sure there were none on the second floor either. Reaching the upper platform, Kai leaned against the door leading to the second floor and listened intently for any sounds on the other side.

Once satisfied, the two toned haired boy opened the door and stepped onto the second floor.

Staring down the dark hallway, Kai was suddenly swarmed with a flood of memories. He knew this hallway, he had been here before. Concentrating he tried to piece together what little memories he had of the place.

Then it hit him. This was exactly where he needed to be. This was the hallway with Boris's office on it, and the door he needed to enter was at the very end of the hall, second to the last.

Stepping quietly down the dark hallway Kai stopped once he was outside the office door.

"Now for the tricky part," the phoenix blader thought to himself.

At this point his plan fell short, and the only thing left for Kai to do was wing it.

The door was far too thick for Kai to even hope to hear if anyone was on the other side. Trying to come up with some sort of plan to ensure he didn't end up getting caught Kai shivered slightly when he felt a cold chill run up his spine.

Before the phoenix blader even had time to consider what had made him shudder, he heard a whispering voice.

Something was calling to him. Had he been found out?!

Jerking his head behind him Kai noted that no one else occupied the hallway, he was completely alone, or so he thought.

"Where did that voice come from then," he thought to himself.

Then it happened, that feeling returned, the one he felt before when he first snuck into the abbey. Realizing where the whispering voice was coming from Kai reached into his pocket and pulled out a black bit chip.

Black Dranzer was calling to him.

* * *

**So, what do ya think? Good, bad, terrible?! Chapter 3 should be up much quicker than its predecessor. I'm actually working on it right now, so hopefully a double update this weekend! Anyways, if it's not too much trouble, could you guys please drop a review and let me know what you think about the story so far?! I really want some feedback. If you see any grammatical errors, please let me know and I'll make sure to fix them! Thanks for reading cuties!**

**Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! **

**-LadyWulf  
**


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